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Chapter 7
At this point, now that peace had been restored, no one would bother tracking Edrion’s past actions even if a petition for annulment was submitted.
The problem was that the person who had signed the engagement contract—the former Duke of Akshad—had already passed away.
Because of that, breaking off the engagement through normal means had become extremely difficult.
“Marriage contracts among nobles are not ordinary promises.”
They were contracts between families, absolute rules that continued across generations in noble society.
If such promises could be broken at will by later generations, who would trust the words and actions of nobles anymore?
Therefore, lawful annulment procedures had one strict rule with no exceptions: they were only valid while the original contracting parties were still alive.
Or unless one of the engagement partners died and could no longer fulfill the promise.
“But both Edrion and I are still alive….”
So did that mean she really had to marry him like this?
Liris buried her face in her hands and fell silent.
Seeing her reaction, Edrion misunderstood her expression and instead tried to comfort her.
“It’s already in the past. Please don’t worry about it.”
“But….”
“What matters is the future, Liris.”
Edrion took off his jacket and placed it over her shoulders.
Only then did Liris realize her hair was still wet, and that she had been standing in the hallway wearing only thin indoor clothes for quite a while.
“It’s late. You should get some rest. We can continue this conversation later….”
Liris quickly started thinking, as if grasping at straws.
Breaking off the engagement might be difficult, but what if she at least delayed the marriage?
Maybe she could make Edrion lose interest in her?
He was a soldier, strict about rules. He disliked people who crossed the line, and was especially extremely conservative about physical relationships.
If someone like that felt his fiancée was completely incompatible with him, maybe he would also start avoiding the marriage.
It was a so-called “reverse psychology plan.”
“I don’t want to sleep tonight, Edrion.”
“Pardon?”
Whether it was nonsense or not, it was better than doing nothing.
Even though she felt embarrassed enough to die, she decided to just say it.
As expected, Edrion’s golden eyes deepened as he looked at her.
“What you just said… did you really mean it?”
“Well, of course….”
Just as she was about to agree, Liris sensed something strange in the atmosphere and closed her mouth.
The answer she had expected was something like, “Please refrain from inappropriate remarks.”
In the original story, Edrion was described as even more ascetic than a holy knight, to the point that even Aitana worried about the family line.
She even casually asked Liris whether he was… capable.
“So what does that expression mean?”
Liris glanced up at him.
The usual politeness was gone. His eyes gleamed, his breathing turned low and rough, and the muscles in his jaw and arms were tense.
“Wait… is he mad because I’m acting like this as his fiancée?!”
Liris had spent most of her upbringing surrounded by scholars who were obsessed with plants and had little social awareness.
Because of that, she was somewhat dull when it came to reading other people’s emotions.
The problem was she couldn’t tell whether Edrion’s expression was simple military displeasure… or something else entirely.
“Considering the original story… it shouldn’t be the latter.”
In any case, Liris, now completely panicked, quickly abandoned her “reverse psychology plan.”
“It was… a j-joke! Haha!”
“……”
Maybe he found her confusing or ridiculous.
After a long silence, Edrion let out a sigh whose meaning was unclear.
He even pressed a hand to his forehead as if suppressing something.
Liris decided to disappear from his sight as quickly as possible.
“I’m going to bed now. Yawn, I’m sleepy. Good night!”
“Yes. Good night, Liris.”
Edrion kissed the back of her hand and slowly let go.
His glowing eyes looked like a predator releasing a small, precious rabbit.
But the moment their eyes met, he immediately hid that dangerous look and returned to a gentle expression, like a tame large dog.
Liris felt extremely uneasy.
“Why is he always smiling? In the original, he was always cold….”
Just as she was about to enter her room, Liris suddenly peeked back through the doorway.
Edrion was still standing in the same spot.
“Um, Duke Akshad.”
“Speak.”
“It’s nothing serious, but… could you keep it a secret that I’m in the capital for now? Especially from the Noela family.”
Meeting her family was not something Liris looked forward to.
And they probably felt the same way.
“If only that girl had never been born, then Madam would by now….”
“Shh, be quiet.”
After hearing her request, Edrión fell silent for a moment.
She had prepared to make up an excuse if he asked why, but contrary to expectations, he simply nodded without a word.
“Very well. However….”
“Yes?”
“Liris, please do one thing for me as well.”
“I’ll decide after hearing it.”
One thing she had learned after leaving her family at age twelve and wandering the world was this:
Co-signed guarantees, “body-forfeit contracts,” cult recruitment, and insurance scams must be refused without hesitation.
Perhaps sensing her caution, Edrión continued calmly.
“If a suspicious person speaks to you, do not respond.”
“…?”
“Do not look at them for long, do not follow them, and if necessary, come find me immediately.”
Anytime.
Edrion gently reached out and touched her flushed cheek.
“You’re cold. You should go inside.”
“Ah.”
He withdrew his hand and guided her into the room, closing the door behind her.
The hallway light disappeared, and darkness filled the corridor.
Feeling strangely unsettled, Liris touched the cheek he had just brushed and stood by the moonlit window.
“Why did he say that…?”
Don’t respond to suspicious people. Don’t follow them. Don’t even look at them for long.
No matter how she thought about it…
“Isn’t that just… warning me about kidnapping?”
It made sense in a way, but she wasn’t a eight-year-old child—she was eighteen.
“Why?”
She couldn’t understand the reason.
All that remained in her heart was a strange sense of unease.
That night, deep inside the imperial palace where everyone slept, a brilliant light suddenly poured out from the sacred grounds.
The World Tree emitted a radiant glow never recorded before. Its leaves turned into a deep, vibrant green.
“What… what is this…?”
“It’s too bright to even open my eyes!”
It wasn’t only the light.
Leaves that had once crumbled easily became thick and strong.
Even the bark wrapping around the trunk seemed to fill with a subtle moisture.
The knights on night watch ran urgently to wake the emperor and empress.
Awakened in the middle of the night, Emperor Kairos immediately sensed this was no ordinary situation.
“What did you say? Something is wrong with the World Tree?”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
“Explain in detail.”
“T-the leaves and trunk have become more vibrant than ever!”
“…?”
Not only the emperor, but Aitana, who was listening beside him, also had a complicated expression.
In fact, she had spent the entire evening being scolded endlessly by the administrator trio, eventually snapping and sending them away before going to sleep early.
They had complained that the Noela noble girl was a blasphemy, that she should be expelled, that she must never be allowed back again, and more.
Her head had been pounding from it.
But if she really expelled the girl, her younger brother would surely throw a tantrum and collapse in protest.
Just thinking about it made her irritated again.
“What on earth is going on….”
“We should go see it ourselves. Aitana, will you come?”
“Yes.”
As she rose from the bed, Aitana changed her mind.
After all, the root of all this trouble was her damned younger brother’s fiancée—so asking her directly might be faster.
She gestured to the head servant.
“Go and bring Lady Noela. Politely.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The servant quickly ran toward the outer palace quarters.
But he stopped at the foot of the stairs.
Edrion, the emperor’s younger brother, was blocking the hallway.
“Shh.”
“Duke?”
“I understand your purpose, but Liris has just fallen asleep. Do not disturb her and return. I will report to my sister myself.”
“But Her Majesty the Empress….”
A massive shadow fell over the servant.
Edrion had stepped forward.
“You… wish to shine together with the World Tree? If so, I will not stop you.”
“C-cough.”
His cold golden eyes slowly and carefully scanned the servant from head to toe.
That gaze made it very clear what “shining” meant, and the servant quietly lowered his head and retreated.
After driving away the late-night intruder, Edrion slowly turned his gaze.
Toward Liris’s sleeping room.
